Leading dog and cat food manufacturer Butcher’s Pet Care Ltd is transforming its operations, putting it on track to grow its market position, after implementing a new manufacturing strategy supported by Integrated Food Projects (IFP).

Over the past 18 months, IFP has worked with Butcher’s Pet Care Ltd to develop a raft of new processes, all designed to improve visibility and provide greater control over investment at its site in Crick, Northamptonshire.

Nigel Devine, associate project director at IFP, said:

“When we began working with Butcher’s Pet Care Ltd, the company clearly had strong growth ambitions. Internal teams were working on a number of capital projects, however each one was being undertaken in isolation, rather than as a cohesive and structured programme. With so much co-dependency between the projects, it meant that some could not be started until another was completed, and resources were being stretched.

“Our role was to develop a masterplan that focussed on long-term success, rather than the completion of individual projects. We worked with the teams to develop the future state vision and introduce more effective ways of working, before handing over the reins to the management team. It was about creating a sustainable legacy, which puts them on the path to further growth.”

The work IFP undertook for Butcher’s Pet Care Ltd focussed on governance, compliance and commercial growth opportunities. IFP introduced a new way of working that allowed the Butcher’s Pet Care team to see what funds had been committed, and what the remaining forecast was. This is then tracked against the approved budget and risk management processes to identify possible issues and what their severity was.

“We guided the client through their responsibilities, including compliance with the latest Construction Design and Management (CDM) Regulations,” explained Nigel.

“Evaluation studies, to identify new commercial opportunities, were also in our remit, as was making better use of its resources. Not only do managers now have full control and visibility over every project, they can also see whether their actions are likely to bring success at both a project and aggregated level.”

Derek Evans, managing director Butcher’s Pet Care Ltd says:

“The IFP team quickly understood where we were and helped us build a clear and deliverable project management and governance system. It is a credit to both IFP and the Butcher’s team that this approach was very quickly adopted.

“We now have visibility of progress across a multitude of complex projects and we are seeing the benefit of this in the success of our implementation programmes.”

IFP, which is based in Kegworth in Leicestershire, delivers and manages investment strategies, helping manufacturers with everything from evaluation and design to implementation and transition. Established in 2001, it works with major supplies and retailers such as Produce World, food and flowers supplier MMUK, Tesco and Samworth Brothers.